NCI Blog

It’s that time of year again. There is apprehension in the air. Nerves are shot. Students around the country are receiving Leaving Cert results and third-level students are repeating exams. It’s always the time of year I wish I could go back and speak to my younger self. I remember the emotion of these times all too clearly: the feeling that my life depended on it, that my worth was contained in the points that I would receive, that I would be so lucky if a college wanted ME; very average, mediocre me. Thinking those exams were a reflection of my ability, my future was one giant question mark. And now, now that I am smack bang in the middle of that wonderful future I would just love to have a brief word in my younger self’s ear.

This summer National College of Ireland is launching a new lunchtime series: In Conversation With. The series comprises three free events with Bobby Kerr interviewing some of the best minds in Irish business. The first event takes place on Wednesday 28th June, from 1-2pm where we'll be welcoming Brian Lee, co-founder and Managing Director of Freshly Chopped, on campus. Ahead of this event we sat down with Brian to get to know a little more about how he got started.

It’s quite fashionable to say the education system is broken. It’s not broken, it's wonderfully constructed. It’s just that we don’t need it anymore. It’s outdated. - Sugata Mitra

Yesterday saw the Early Learning Initiative at NCI launch their new report: Building Hope for Brighter Futures (PDF). The report used restorative practices that saw young people from the north east inner city discuss their views on the future of their community.

There is little doubt that teaching, learning and development in the 21st century is undergoing fundamental and substantial change. Learning is no longer limited to primary or secondary school contexts – there is now a growing need for professional educators to meet the needs of lifelong learners in workplace, community, voluntary or other educational settings.

"Only focus on what you can control" "...take a breath and give it your best shot!" "Build in time for you"

Pictured: Victor del Rosal (NCI), John Fleming (Citi), Deveshi (NCI Codaline Team Leader), Anu Sahni (NCI), Petr Dementiev (Citi mentor for Codaline)

National College of Ireland is delighted to be running a Festival of Digital Creativity and Innovation in partnership with the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning for the All Aboard 2017 initiative. This initiative is promoting a series of national and regional public events designed to build confidence in Ireland’s digital skills for learning.

This article first appeared in the Irish Independent Postgraduate Studies supplement in March 2017.